Minimal Gains in Faculty Pay

By

Median salaries for tenure-track faculty members at four-year colleges and universities were up 2.1 percent in 2012 -- matching the rate of inflation for the year, according to a study being released today by the College and University Professional Association for Human Resources.

Continuing a pattern of recent years, gains were larger for faculty members at private colleges and universities (2.4 percent) than at publics (1.9 percent). And also continuing the trends of many years, faculty salaries differ widely by discipline. For example, the average assistant professor of engineering earned about $80,000 while the average associate professor of foreign languages earned about $67,000.

The CUPA-HR study is one of two surveys on faculty salaries released each year. CUPA-HR compiles data by discipline, and includes only four-year colleges and universities. The other survey is by the American Association of University Professors, and will be released next month. That study features averages by institution and includes community colleges, and full-time, non-tenure-track faculty members. John W. Curtis, director of research and public policy at the AAUP, said that an early look at his association's data suggests similar findings to those of CUPA-HR, but perhaps with smaller gains.

Both studies exclude the part-time faculty members who on many campuses make up a majority of those teaching.

The past four years have seen private institutions outpace publics in the faculty salary study.

Percentage Increase in Average Salary for Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty

Year

Public

Private

2009-10

0.0%

0.1%

2010-11

0.0%

2.0%

2011-12

1.1%

2.3%

2012-13

1.9%

2.4%

Gains were largest at doctoral institutions (2.5 percent), followed by baccalaureate institutions (2.1 percent) and master's institutions (2.0 percent).

While there is very little movement in the salary figures by discipline, these statistics are regularly eyed by faculty members -- especially those who feel that their disciplines are not sufficiently valued. As has been the case previously, the disciplines where faculty members earn the most are law, business and engineering. The ranks for the highest salaries are the same for public and private institutions.

For lowest salaries, there are differences between public and private institutions. At private institutions, the lowest salaries are in theology, parks and recreation and homeland security. At public institutions, the lowest are in visual and performing arts, English and history.

In the table that follows, there are some fields where some colleges may differ from others in the way they classify faculty members. So, for example, an English or history faculty member might be in the individual categories here at one institution and in "liberal arts" at another. Here are the figures for tenured and tenure-track faculty salaries:

Average Salaries by Discipline and Rank

Discipline and Rank

All

Research Universities

Other Doctoral

Master's

Bachelor's

All Disciplines

Professor

$95,224

$115,579

$98,564

$87,008

$82,383

Associate Professor

74,473

85,135

76,868

70,716

66,107

Assistant Professor

64,414

74,064

66,811

61,253

56,619

New Assistant Prof

65,372

74,692

67,419

60,814

56,523

Agriculture

Professor

94,432

102,626

89,990

81,276

73,484

Associate Professor

74,386

78,067

82,283

66,380

66,271

Assistant Professor

64,868

69,567

67,284

57,972

58,366

New Assistant Prof

64,823

71,567

- - -

56,666

- - -

Natural Resources

Professor

93,540

101,804

98,495

81,327

84,297

Associate Professor

72,547

76,804

78,452

66,714

66,232

Assistant Professor

61,790

65,725

- - -

57,904

57,453

New Assistant Prof

61,827

67,090

- - -

57,549

53,330

Architecture

Professor

102,902

105,603

- - -

89,519

- - -

Associate Professor

78,077

78,033

78,944

79,692

- - -

Assistant Professor

64,903

65,262

70,434

61,654

- - -

New Assistant Prof

64,352

65,334

- - -

- - -

- - -

Area, Ethnic, Cultural, Gender, Group Studies

Professor

96,312

105,669

94,154

81,883

96,336

Associate Professor

74,437

77,774

69,138

67,989

77,389

Assistant Professor

60,356

61,512

60,738

57,068

62,173

New Assistant Prof

63,075

63,753

- - -

62,968

60,244

Communication, Journalism

Professor

87,353

105,011

92,113

82,653

74,380

Associate Professor

67,077

74,347

68,626

66,059

60,355

Assistant Professor

55,995

59,802

57,806

55,161

52,138

New Assistant Prof

56,804

61,063

62,187

54,914

51,247

Communications Technologies

Professor

85,051

- - -

- - -

88,145

- - -

Associate Professor

70,667

- - -

67,524

75,888

60,965

Assistant Professor

57,819

- - -

- - -

58,267

- - -

New Assistant Prof

52,569

- - -

- - -

- - -

- - -

Computer Sciences and Support Services

Professor

106,568

131,036

111,262

99,135

90,467

Associate Professor

88,215

104,153

90,462

84,285

76,807

Assistant Professor

75,294

89,890

78,519

72,689

62,530

New Assistant Prof

78,962

92,047

79,881

72,025

72,685

Education

Professor

86,630

101,744

88,901

82,011

74,139

Associate Professor

67,831

73,487

69,177

66,455

61,769

Assistant Professor

57,617

61,404

59,607

56,832

52,887

New Assistant Prof

56,602

61,052

58,120

54,940

52,807

Engineering

Professor

119,951

130,844

119,991

101,675

90,912

Associate Professor

91,707

96,459

93,157

84,543

75,630

Assistant Professor

80,078

83,667

81,287

74,514

68,706

New Assistant Prof

80,183

83,775

83,906

73,541

67,042

Engineering Technologies

Professor

94,164

121,999

97,862

88,362

75,876

Associate Professor

77,099

85,065

76,602

76,562

66,563

Assistant Professor

67,053

73,526

69,274

66,461

58,926

New Assistant Prof

66,389

69,771

74,118

64,394

60,828

Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics

Professor

87,952

98,159

87,884

79,569

89,644

Associate Professor

67,745

70,129

65,649

64,677

69,672

Assistant Professor

56,486

59,314

57,332

53,937

56,797

New Assistant Prof

56,081

58,927

57,560

53,247

56,686

Family, Consumer Sciences

Professor

92,783

104,817

97,052

78,095

67,946

Associate Professor

69,832

76,743

67,766

63,406

59,278

Assistant Professor

59,849

64,495

57,223

55,601

54,090

New Assistant Prof

59,773

62,601

57,849

56,385

- - -

Legal Professions

Professor

142,033

159,879

153,103

123,501

107,223

Associate Professor

106,016

117,755

115,077

93,163

85,376

Assistant Professor

91,783

104,924

98,231

78,386

87,746

New Assistant Prof

100,396

107,344

- - -

91,226

- - -

English

Professor

82,840

97,253

85,757

80,636

77,288

Associate Professor

64,009

69,181

66,470

63,318

61,158

Assistant Professor

54,084

58,403

57,175

53,119

51,841

New Assistant Prof

53,968

57,625

57,833

51,991

51,982

Liberal Arts, General Studies

Professor

85,162

95,859

92,918

80,792

86,641

Associate Professor

66,531

72,958

67,791

63,820

67,262

Assistant Professor

57,811

60,672

57,978

56,743

54,362

New Assistant Prof

56,778

63,498

- - -

50,779

- - -

Library Sciences

Professor

87,861

98,553

82,325

76,708

- - -

Associate Professor

69,788

77,395

71,112

63,702

- - -

Assistant Professor

57,956

63,148

57,637

53,144

- - -

New Assistant Prof

57,112

62,057

- - -

48,582

- - -

Biological Sciences

Professor

96,241

118,048

104,955

82,378

78,958

Associate Professor

72,104

83,411

80,025

65,054

63,347

Assistant Professor

61,861

72,488

68,027

55,907

54,716

New Assistant Prof

61,464

72,138

69,251

55,396

54,118

Mathematics, Statistics

Professor

88,057

106,095

90,696

82,681

78,851

Associate Professor

68,510

77,877

70,583

65,710

63,732

Assistant Professor

58,917

69,874

60,097

56,065

53,976

New Assistant Prof

60,924

71,412

64,569

55,459

53,330

Interdisciplinary

Professor

97,464

120,029

94,158

84,983

89,464

Associate Professor

73,782

82,365

78,499

71,289

64,027

Assistant Professor

61,646

65,840

64,877

59,952

57,602

New Assistant Prof

62,670

66,276

- - -

56,448

57,954

Leisure and Fitness Studies

Professor

82,996

103,378

89,460

79,810

71,202

Associate Professor

67,754

76,600

69,667

65,935

61,437

Assistant Professor

56,543

64,474

61,088

55,062

50,908

New Assistant Prof

56,051

63,044

55,655

54,221

49,506

Philosophy, Religion

Professor

88,711

102,280

96,836

83,838

84,961

Associate Professor

66,239

71,902

69,324

63,653

65,363

Assistant Professor

55,844

59,359

58,180

54,066

55,063

New Assistant Prof

55,644

58,887

55,149

54,795

52,836

Theology

Professor

73,942

107,141

79,787

74,593

69,296

Associate Professor

60,804

74,196

60,490

60,211

58,439

Assistant Professor

53,802

65,276

- - -

53,498

51,259

New Assistant Prof

57,857

- - -

- - -

57,817

- - -

Physical Sciences

Professor

92,452

113,188

95,328

84,328

83,737

Associate Professor

70,255

80,735

72,336

65,933

65,794

Assistant Professor

60,404

70,466

62,711

56,013

56,353

New Assistant Prof

61,204

72,196

60,326

55,899

57,037

Psychology

Professor

87,500

109,012

91,203

82,373

78,841

Associate Professor

67,502

76,717

70,095

65,113

63,252

Assistant Professor

57,695

65,900

59,313

55,819

53,952

New Assistant Prof

59,221

66,816

57,430

55,865

53,513

Instructor

52,105

53.110

---

48,109

49,420

Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting

Professor

88,577

111,652

87,460

84,474

69,532

Associate Professor

67,849

76,945

67,918

66,978

58,238

Assistant Professor

57,299

63,433

57,282

57,328

51,911

New Assistant Prof

56,675

60,929

56,938

57,067

49,501

Public Administration and Social Service Professions

Professor

93,098

111,405

96,714

82,573

72,645

Associate Professor

71,682

79,122

72,944

69,095

60,535

Assistant Professor

59,650

66,385

61,243

57,276

50,650

New Assistant Prof

59,222

66,663

57,372

56,661

53,620

Social Sciences

Professor

92,864

110,032

95,338

85,496

87,890

Associate Professor

71,723

79,514

74,197

68,181

69,066

Assistant Professor

61,155

67,731

63,757

58,057

58,556

New Assistant Prof

62,443

69,426

64,636

57,900

58,253

Visual and Performing Arts

Professor

82,601

91,433

86,304

78,701

80,530

Associate Professor

64,506

68,355

66,927

62,737

63,218

Assistant Professor

54,138

56,471

55,710

52,969

53,350

New Assistant Prof

53,624

55,031

55,199

52,762

52,672

Health Professions and Related Programs

Professor

100,901

118,693

92,345

89,338

81,378

Associate Professor

78,739

88,399

73,128

74,224

66,722

Assistant Professor

67,160

74,238

64,327

64,002

58,152

New Assistant Prof

68,574

79,073

64,306

64,215

56,592

Business, Management, Marketing

Professor

118,344

153,267

123,984

106,554

90,115

Associate Professor

100,066

123,768

104,645

92,760

78,447

Assistant Professor

95,268

122,314

100,227

88,638

69,562

New Assistant Prof

102,248

126,212

109,794

91,492

71,947

History

Professor

84,805

99,817

86,415

81,609

80,016

Associate Professor

64,844

70,911

66,553

63,307

62,586

Assistant Professor

55,270

59,373

56,966

53,555

54,670

New Assistant Prof

55,109

60,190

52,632

52,835

55,245

For some disciplines, CUPA-HR this year also collected and published data on full-time, non-tenure-track faculty members. These figures only cover those employed in a single contract full-time, and thus excludes the adjuncts who work full-time but who are employed on a course-by-course basis.